Sindh schools & colleges summer vacation

Students confused as holidays rescheduled
Karachi, May 09: The government's announcement that the summer vacation will start from July, and not
June, has sparked mixed reactions among parents, teachers and
students.

Senior Education Minister Pir Mazharul Haq said on Saturday
that that the schools and colleges in the province will be closed for the summer
vacation in the months of July and August, instead of June and July. He was
talking to journalists after presiding over a meeting of the steering committee
of his department where the decision was taken.

According to the
education minister, they had received requests from authorities and the general
public that the summer vacations should be rescheduled so that the upcoming
month of Ramazan falls during the holidays.

"Keeping these suggestions
in mind, the committee decided that the summer vacation will be observed from
July 1 to August 31, 2011. The schools and colleges will reopen after the Eidul
Fitar," said the minister.

"The last-minute and, frankly speaking,
pointless decision of the government has not only confused us but also the
school administration," said 14-year-old Ammar Siddiqui, a student of Links
Secondary School.

According to him, the year's curriculum has already
been completed as planned so "what is the point of making us return to school
after our final examinations?".

Also, many students have already planned
their summer vacations, including domestic and international travels, and a lot
of people would have to cancel their tickets and rearrange their much
anticipated summer holidays.

"I had made up my mind. I had arranged
everything according to the previous schedule. Now, I've to undo everything. Why
does our government announce such important things at the last minute," said an
agitated Hasan, an intermediate student.

"I think it's a good decision.
Going to school and listening to lectures with an empty stomach is quite a
painful experience," said a high school student, Umair, who seemed to be
thrilled by the announcement. "During Ramazan, we stay up late in the night and
play cricket. So, I won't have to wake up early in the morning to go to
school."

However, Ammar disagrees. "In my opinion, the government has
more to worry about, like the recent killing of Osama bin Laden in its
military's backyard; not to mention educating its underprivileged masses. They
should focus more on social welfare and less on the Ramzan realities of schools
catering to the country's very small elite," Ammar added.

A committee was
also formed to take on board all the 'O' and 'A' level schools on the
rescheduled vacation. The body comprises Acting Secretary Education Waeem
Ursani, Director Private Institutions Mansoob Ahmed Siddqui and Chairman Board
of Intermediate Education Karachi Prof Anwar Ahmed Zai.

He said that the
chairmen of the all educational boards of Karachi had assured him that they
would complete the examination process in May.

The steering committee
also discussed others issues about improving the quality of education and
training the teaching faculty.

Your Comments
"Summer Vacation should be kept in Ramadhan As the days are too hot and alot of holidays in Ramdhan, It would be good for the kids to participate in Holy Activities through the month, I wish the rules APPLY to all the educational institutes across sindh ,the matric and O levels ,Cambridge system . Let the Board take a United policy for all schools so the children of all schools will feel united,One school is open and the other closed brings out Differences ,!! Let The Kids Enjoy Ramadhan holidaying ,Thank"
Name: AMna
Email:amna123@yahoo.com
City, Country: Karachi

"We disagree with the idea of summer vacations in July-11 and August-11 instead of June-11 and July-11. The reason is many people have planned their summer vacations two and three months before, with this decision, their schedule has disturbed badly, their visas and tickets has been booked two or three months prior vacations according to the June-11 and July-11. The decision had to be made at least three or four months prior and not 20 to 25 days before so that people would have planned according to the new vacation schedule i.e July-11 and August-11. I would like to make a request/suggestion that you must take the feed back of summer vacations from parents whether to be held in June-11 and July-11 or July-11 and August-11. Please forward our request/suggestion to higher authorities at Sindh Government level for the reversal of this decision. Keeping all in view we need and expect that school management will cooperate. I hope many parents/guardians will agree with our point of view. Thanks & Best regards, Azhar Elahi."
Name: Azhar Elahi
Email: elahi_azhar@hotmail.com
City, Country: Karachi

"i think the decision of holliday from july and augst is better than june and july because in august the climate get cool and also holly month of Ramadan arrives. some people who are saying that they wanted to go abroad for holliday they must think that they are Muslims and they should perefer Ramadan over aborad tours."
Name: maira iqbal
Email:girlhonest34@yahoo.com
City, Country:hyderabad

Private schools welcome new summer vacation schedule
Karachi: To everyone's surprise, private schools of the city welcomed the controversial
decision made by the steering committee of the Education Department to change
summer vacation's schedule; however, some school heads remained confused as how
to react to the latest development.

The committee had made a
recommendation to the chief minister to move the start of summer holiday's
forward from June 1 to July 1.

Members of the steering committee claimed
that it had received suggestions from people belonging to various walks of life
to rearrange the holidays so that Ramazan falls during this time
period.

"The decision would be applicable for the next three years, after
which summer vacation would resume in June and July. Committee members had
calculated that there would be a total of 11 holidays in August, excluding
weekends. Additionally, school timings are reduced considerably during the month
of Ramazan, which meant that students did not get enough time to study their
lessons in the month of August," said Chairman All Private Schools Management
Association Sindh, Syed Khalid said.

Shah, who
also attended the steering meeting, added that he failed to see any problems
resulting from the change.

"This decision was not taken lightly, as the
education department had gathered the relevant information before announcing the
rescheduling. The department is aware of the number of school days that are
wasted in August and conducting classes during Ramazan would severely compromise
educational objectives," he said.

Conversely, President PEAK Private
Schools Management Association Haider Ali said that while the decision may seem
good on paper, it is quite impractical.

He explained that based on the
rescheduling of summer vacations, this year's new academic session for Class-XII
would begin on June 15, but the first phase of the Annual Examinations of Higher
Secondary School Certificate would come to end on June 13. Ali questioned how
schools were expected to complete the admission process for the students of
Class-XII in only two days.

Additionally, the assessment of examination
papers of Class-IX and X may also be affected, he said, adding that Secondary
School Certificate results were ordinarily released in August; but if teachers
were to conduct classes in June, it was unlikely that they would be able to
check answer sheets in due time.

The principals and heads of private
schools were also worried and confused by the decision, as they did not
understand the premise for the change.

Some questioned the truth behind
the education department's claim that Ramzan was the reason behind the
rescheduling. Many agreed that the government should have surveyed the general
opinions of the public, especially school administrations, before making the
announcement.

"The education department should have consulted the
administrations of educational institutions before making the change public.
What did they have to lose by consulting us - the stakeholders? Had they tried
doing so, they may have gotten good feedback on the merits of their decision,"
said one principal.

Chairman of Private Schools Management Association
Sharaf Uz Zaman also backed the decision. Oddly enough he expressed that
vacations should be scheduled according to the severity of the weather. Zaman
pointed to the fact that countries like India and Bangladesh plan school breaks
according to the weather.

He also suggested that the education
department should reduce the length of summer vacations so as to give students
more time to study.

He said that the new academic session had started
late, and much time was spent in preparations like purchasing uniforms and
books; therefore, the additional one month of studies would be beneficial for
students.

"Teachers now have another month to teach children their
lessons and they can also used the extra time in preparing homework assignment
for the summer break," he said.

'Increase in PhD scholars does not guarantee quality research work'
Karachi: The number of PhD scholars in Pakistan has considerably increased after the formation of
the Higher Education Commission (HEC), but there is growing concern that the
quality of the research may not have improved.

Former chairperson of the
Department of Food Science & Technology Dr Abid Hasnain disagrees with the
above surmise. "No, I am sure that with a few exceptions, the research in Public
Sector Universities (PSU) is of relatively high standard. We are mostly doing
research on under-utilised resources that can increase the quality of food
products and their packaging", he commented.

Research Scholar Abdul Haque
is working on the Edible Coating from Natural Gum Plants. He explained that he
had worked in food industries and noted that the industries need solutions
through fundamental research. "Our lack of knowledge in certain fields hampers
our work. Even adaptations (from some other source of knowledge) are difficult
for our researchers. I have chosen this topic because safe packaging and
preservation of food products without any side effects has great potential", he
said.

Haque pointed out that packaging material containing plastics are
mostly used in the food industry, but they have side effects and are hazardous
to the health.

It is because of this reason that edible packaging matter
is sought that would increase the packaging and preservation capacity and
harmful effects would be minimised.

The cost of packaging is reduced as
indigenous plants are abundantly found in the country.

Ex-chairman,
Department of Pharmacognosy, University of Karachi (KU), Professor Mansoor
Ahmed, was of the opinion that the research work in his university and other
PSUs was mostly in the right direction, but majority of the research findings go
unnoticed in the field because no body utilizes these findings. "I think the
industries should come forward and use the research for mass production in all
the fields of science and technology. One of my research students is working on
'Stability Studies of Haemaccel with other Plasma Substitutes/Plasma Expander'.
This is a very important study. Haemaccel is the substitute of the Blood Plasma.
It is a sterile, pyrogen free, semi-synthetic 3.5 per cent colloidal infusion
solution for plasma substitution. It is derived from thermal degradation of
bovine gelatin", Dr Ahmed gives said while giving details.

According to
Dr Ahmed, the research will find the ways that would detect any toxicity in
Haemaccel, thus making it suitable for human body during blood loss.

Haemaccel is being subjected to withstand the high and low temperatures,
in natural lights, on room temperatures and in various humid conditions. After
ascertaining the toxicity phenomenon, it will be safer to use it in various
pathological conditions.

Dr Ahmed said "Our research work is the first
ever research-oriented standard work in the world. But unfortunately, it is not
reported in the research literature."

Columnist and short story writer
Dr Tahir Masood who is a Professor in the Department of Mass Communication, KU,
reminds that a research is not meant for factories or some physical gain. "It is
abstract and throws light on the poetry, prose or any other literary form, in
journalism or philosophy, linguistics or in social sciences", he stated.

KU announces form submission date
Karachi: Controller Examination University of Karachi has announced that the candidates of all
affiliated medical colleges can submit their examination forms for MBBS (First
professional) part I and II supplementary examinations, 2011, from May 09 to
16.

The KU announced that the Area Study Centre for Europe of the
university is going to organizse a workshop on 'Franco-German Reconciliation and
its Significance for the Promotion of Peace in the Contemporary World' on May
9. The news

3,000 take postgraduate entry test at KU
Karachi: Around 3,000 male and female candidates seeking
admission to Karachi University PhD, MS and MD (surgery and medicines)
programmes appeared in an entry test held on the campus on
Sunday.

The test, which was conducted smoothly at the
departments where the candidates were seeking admission for doing PhD, MS and MD
was supervised by a committee comprising deans and chairpersons of the
university's different faculties and departments.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the KU said that a meeting of the university
postgraduate committee was scheduled to be held on Monday under the chairmanship
of Vice Chancellor Prof (Dr) Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui while the results of
Sunday's entry test would be posted on the university website - uok.edu.pk - on
Tuesday (May 10).

Rangers and security officials of the university were deployed during the
test to avoid any untoward incident. Dawn

SSUET security being beefed up
Karachi: Chancellor of Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology (SSUET) ZA Nizami has
directed formulation of an action plan containing strict security arrangements
to be prepared within a week.

According to a press release issued on
Sunday, Nizami was chairing a high-level meeting at the University to review
security aspects of the SSUET.

The security measures on the campus of
SSUET were reviewed in detail during the meeting, which was also attended by the
Vice-Chancellor, SSUET, Professor Dr Saiyid Nazir Ahmed, two Deans of faculties,
chairmen of all the departments, Registrar, SSUET, Shah Mahmood Syed, chief
security officer, and other concerned officials.

The plan would focus on
the existing shortcomings with steps for further improvement with no chances to
be taken on any side, Nizami told the participants of the meeting.

It was
directed that no student without uniform should be allowed to enter the
university while all the employees including members of the teaching staff would
carry and display the University's identification card with them.

The
Chancellor, SSUET, also directed that all security cameras installed on the
campus must be operational and any lapse in this regard will not be tolerated.

Every employee, whether belonging to teaching or non-teaching staff,
should be vigilant and consider responsible as far as the question of security
on the campus is concerned, Nizami further directed.

Hundreds throng Frere Hall book fair
Karachi: Hundreds of book-lovers thronged the book fair at the historic Frere Hall on Sunday after
they learnt that the weekly event has opened after a period of seven
years.

The Frere Hall, which lies just opposite the US Consulate, was
closed to public for security reasons in early 2000's after successive blasts
outside the consulate building. However, after the shifting of the consulate to
Mai Kolachi Road, the Frere Hall was finally opened.

"It's the best thing
to happen in such gloomy times. It's perhaps the only suitable place where you
can visit along with your family on a Sunday," said Arif, who was showing his
two-year old daughter bedtime story books at a stall.

District
Coordination Officer (DCO) Muhammad Hussain Syed, former administrator of the
defunct Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) Fahim-uz-Zaman Khan, Special
Secretary Archives Iqbal Nafees, journalists, intellectuals and writers also
visited the book fair which was launched by the defunct KMC in 1997.

It
continued till 2003 until the place was closed for security reasons.

Over 25 book stalls were set up on the first day. The DCO said that the
number of the stalls will be double from next week. "The historical Frere Hall
Library and the Sadequain Art Gallery will also be opened for public on
Sundays."

The massive and calm lawns of the Frere Hall make its book fair
more attractive than those held in other places. "Here, you can sit along with
family and friends and enjoy time your time on a lazy Sunday. It's perhaps the
only place where you can get rid of the maddening noise of the city," said Huma,
a university student.

According to the DCO, literary gatherings,
book-launching ceremonies and painting exhibitions would also be held in the
future. "We'll try our best to utilize the place for educational and literary
purposes." The news

VCs committee meets in SALU
Khairpur: A meeting of Vice Chancellors' Committee was held at
Shah Abdul Latif University (SALU) here on Saturday, which was presided over by
the vice chancellor Sindh University, professor Dr Nazir A.Mughal.

The meeting appreciated the holding of an all parties conference at Sindh
University and passed the report of follow-up meeting to which all the vice
chancellors commended the work of vice chancellor Sindh University and hoped
that resolutions passed in the meeting would be implemented in letter and
sprit.

Another resolution demanded increase in PhD allowance from Rs5,000 to
Rs10,000 per month, as done by the Punjab government. The committee decided to
request the Governor/ Chancellor of the universities of Sindh to enhance PhD
allowance on May 12. Dawn